


big top (full of stars)

by naggeluide



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Childhood Memories, Fire babies in happier times, Gen, Pre-Canon, fluff and friendship, spoonfuls of sugar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28430631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naggeluide/pseuds/naggeluide
Summary: On a warm, starry night, four children sneak out onto the roof with big dreams in their hearts.
Relationships: Azula & Mai & Ty Lee & Zuko
Comments: 7
Kudos: 63





	big top (full of stars)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [disaster_queer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disaster_queer/gifts).



> This is a gift for @mistythegenderqueermess for the Legends of Kolor gift exchange! They asked for "an AU where the fire siblings had a normal, well-adjusted childhood", and since I firmly believe they had good times growing up too (and children will find moments of happiness in spite of their situations), I wrote about how I imagine one of those might go. Hope you enjoy it, and all the best in 2021!

"Are we there yet? Can I look?" Ty Lee's bright voice hadn't stopped chirping such questions since they'd set out on their quest, no matter how many times Azula had told her to be quiet.

"We're almost there," answered Zuko, and Azula snorted.

"You don't know the way," she muttered under her breath, torn between the need for stealth and the need to set the record straight.

"I’m almost nine and you're seven, of course I know more than you!"

Lately, Azula had started to question Zuko's logic, and this was a stellar example of why she ought to; while their ages were undeniable facts, Azula was almost completely certain that Zuko did not, in fact, know the way.

Beside them, Mai turned her head to fix them with what was surely an impressive, impassive glare behind her blindfold. Her pointed silence spoke with more logic than the other eight-year-old had. The need for silence and trust was more important than their bickering right now.

Azula sniffed, held her head at a higher angle even though no one else could see it, and tugged on Ty Lee's hand, moving their human chain a few steps further along the wooden passage. She didn't speak again until she'd opened the old trapdoor, no matter how much she wanted to.

"We're here," she announced, stepping out first like a true-born leader. "You can look now."

Ty Lee was the quickest to yank off the blindfold, and she gasped appreciatively and clapped her hands in delight. "Azula! This is wonderful!"

Azula let a benevolent grin steal across her mouth; Ty Lee's reactions were easy to evoke but always a joy to behold. It was the other two who were a more difficult audience.

"My mother would hate this," said Mai. "I don't."

Glowing praise, from that one. Azula felt her chest puff out, but she was still waiting for one more person. She cut her eyes to the side.

The black cloth in Zuko's hand was smoking a little at the edges, because he couldn't be a normal person and take it off, he had to burn it off like someone all too eager to set the painted roofs on fire. Azula couldn't be too upset though, because the look on his face was a mixture of awe and jealousy. "Did Lu Ten tell you how to get on the roof?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "He told you too, dummy. It's not my fault if you forgot."

"Let's play hide-and-explode!" Ty Lee bounced in between the two of them before anything could start.

"Aren't we a little high up for that?" asked Mai, eyeing the ground below. Azula nudged Ty Lee in the side as Zuko reluctantly put on his big brother face and nodded along with Mai's evaluation.

"Pig-chicken, pig-chicken," they chanted in unison, then split off in different directions running the second the older children turned glares on them.

Small feet pattered lightly over wooden tiles, and the children found hiding places in distorted shadows cast by spires and in the nooks and crannies between roof tiers. Climbing up the steep inclines was gruelling work, followed by sudden thrills as they scampered down the other side, battling against gravity.

Mai was, as always, an excellent finder, and Zuko an annoyingly competent exploder, although usually with this group they traded fiery explosions for enthusiastic tackles, which was downgraded to light touches given that they were running around on the rooftops late at night. Azula and Ty Lee could dodge like none other, but it still wasn't long until their endurance failed on the tough terrain and the older children declared them caught.

Exhausted, they collapsed inside the decorative awning they'd ended up in, staring out at the Caldera below and up at the stars above, panting for breath.

"Let's play up here next Summer Solstice," Zuko said eventually. "We could take real fireworks with us then. I know Mom would let us, if we asked."

"Don't be silly, Zuzu," sniffed Azula. She hoped he was right, but still…. "Grown-ups wouldn't let us have fun like that."

"It's too dangerous," mimicked Mai, her face and voice coming alive in an imitation of her overbearing mother. "Proper young ladies shouldn't play with fireworks. That's just fake firebending for cheap mass entertainment."

"I _like_ cheap mass entertainment," complained Ty Lee. "I wish you all could come to the circus with me. It's the best thing _ever_. The acrobats are amazing!"

"I like your tricks better, though," said Mai, and Ty Lee laughed and lifted herself into a swaying handstand.

"I like the animals," Zuko declared. "And the person who throws knives without hitting the other one."

Azula crossed her arms and did not pout, because pouty princesses were the type that got rescued and not the time that ruled nations well. "I don't remember what I like. I hardly remember going."

Because Mother had taken Zuko this year and not her, and even though it was because Azula had chosen to observe a firebending masterclass with her father instead, it still didn't mean it was _fair_. Couldn't they have waited and all gone together another day?

"You'd love the fire dancers, Azula!" Ty Lee tried to cheer her up with her enthusiastic miming and sound effects.

"Yeah, they're really good! They can make shapes and everything! I'm going to learn that one day," added Zuko. "You'd probably catch on right away!"

"Of course I would." Azula had to admit he was right about that.

"We could totally be a circus together, just us!" exclaimed Ty Lee. "We should practice! I'll be the acrobat. Mai, what will you do?"

"Hmmm." Mai thought about it, swinging her feet over the ledge and staring up at the sky.

"You could be an acrobat, too," offered Zuko.

"We can't be a circus that's half acrobats," Azula protested. "What about the animal tamer?"

"I want to be the animal tamer!" cried Zuko.

"It's Mai's turn now, wait for yours!" ordered Ty Lee.

"I'll be the knife thrower," Mai decided. "If I practice more, I bet I can do it without hitting anybody."

Azula nodded in agreement. Mai was already pretty good at doing all sorts of fine, tricky movements with her hands.

"So Mai's the knife thrower, and Zuko's the animal tamer. Then I'll be…"

The thing was, Azula knew she should probably say fire dancer, but just because she could do so easily didn't mean she had to do it. She could barely remember her only circus experience, but the impressions she had from it didn't feature firebending. No, what she remembered was the one figure in the center of it all, hardly flamboyant compared with the bright performers filling the ring, but still the one who commanded attention with powerful phrases which directed audience and circus acts alike. 

"I'll be the ringmaster!"

Azula could picture it perfectly: walking out into the spotlight, pulling the audience away from their boring everyday lives and into a night of magic, highlighting Ty Lee's twirls and somersaults, Mai's skillful bladework and Zuko's rapport with the animals. 

"That's perfect for you, Azula!" Zuko smiled that huge, annoying big-brother grin at her, and Ty Lee clapped her hands as Mai nodded firmly.

"Now all we need is a big top!" exclaimed Ty Lee, caught up in the game. "That's the tent, you know, the one with the striped canvas!"

The children pondered for a moment. Azula knew where they could get plenty of material, but she had a feeling Father and Mother wouldn't like her ripping down tapestries, even if they would be put to far better use this way.

"We've already got one," said Zuko, pointing upward. "Look!"

Azula leaned back, vision following his pointer finger up and up until her head was laid back on the wooden tiles and bumping against Mai's and Ty Lee's.

"Oooooh," cooed Ty Lee appreciatively, "I like it. It's perfect for our circus!"

It really was, Azula agreed silently, staring up at the dark sky striped with swathes of shimmering stars. 

The big top turned slowly, ponderously, as the warm night went on, collecting the dreams of the four children and weaving them into its fabric, until small eyes fluttered wearily, and finally the light footsteps left the roofs behind them -- although not without the promise to one day return again.

**Author's Note:**

> Roofs of Thai temples like the ones the Fire Nation Palace is modeled after are deadly steep, Do Not Try This At Home ;) Unless you plan on growing up to be athletic prodigies like these kids.
> 
> Update 11 Feb: LOOK AT THIS AMAZING ART!!! I commissioned the wonderful [@wendyizumii](https://wendyizumii.tumblr.com/) for this, isn't the style just perfect for this? Their little faces! I love it so much, go follow the artist for more serotonin like this.


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